Additional Federal Benefits

Transfer of Post 9/11 Bill Benefits to Dependents (TEB)

The transferability option under the Post 9/11 Bill allows Service members to transfer unused benefits to their spouses or dependent children.

Requirements:

Any member of the Armed Forces (active duty or Selected Reserve, officer, or enlisted) on or after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and:

Has at least six years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval and agrees to serve four additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election.

Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval, is precluded by either standard policy (Service or DoD) or statute from committing to four additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute.

Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from August 1, 2009, through July 31, 2012, and agrees to serve an additional period of service. A Service member is considered to be retirement eligible if he or she has completed 20 years of active Federal service. This will no longer be in effect on August 1, 2013, and on or after that date all members must comply with paragraphs 1 and 2.

For individuals eligible for retirement on August 1, 2009, no additional service is required.

For individuals eligible for retirement after August 1, 2009, and before August 1, 2010, one year of additional service is required.

For individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2010, and before August 1, 2011, two years of additional service is required.

For individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2011, and before August 1, 2012, three years of additional service is required.

Such transfer must be requested and approved while the member is in the Armed Forces.

Eligibility

Veterans have up to 10 years from the last date of separation from active duty, or when the veteran uses all their monthly entitlement, whichever is earlier. Entitlement is up to 36 months of full-time education benefits regardless of how long the veteran served.

Eligible Dependents

An individual approved to transfer an entitlement to educational assistance under this section may transfer the individual’s entitlement to:

The individual's spouse.

One or more of the individual’s children.

Any combination of spouse and child.

A family member must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS) and be eligible for benefits, at the time of transfer to receive transferred educational benefits.

A child's subsequent marriage will not affect his or her eligibility to receive the educational benefit; however, after an individual has designated a child as a transferee under this section, the individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.

A subsequent divorce will not affect the transferee’s eligibility to receive educational benefits; however, after an individual has designated a spouse as a transferee under this section, the eligible individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.

Exceptions

If the veteran did not complete the required period of service, he or she may still be eligible if he or she were separated early for one of the following reasons:

Convenience of government

Service connected disability

Hardship

Medical condition that veteran had before service

A physical or mental condition that interfered with performance of duty and did not result from misconduct on their part

Reduction in force (RFI)

Application:

1) The servicemember must first connect to the milConnect portal application through this link: 2) To transfer benefit months to a family member, do the following:

Locate the name of the appropriate family member in the table.

From the Months drop-down list, select the number of months (0 to 36) to transfer.

Optionally, enter an End Date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

3) Once transfer Months have been assigned to the family members, the servicemember must submit a transfer request for approval by doing the following:

Select the “Post-9/11 GI Bill Chapter 33” radio button in the Select the educational program from which to transfer benefits section.

Select all the boxes in the Transferability of Education Benefits Acknowledgements section to indicate that you have read and understand each statement.

Click the Submit Request button.

4) Once your transfer request is approved, your request data is sent to the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Each family member must first apply for a certificate of eligibility from the DVA before they can use their transferred benefits. Once the DVA receives the request data and VA Form 22-1990E, they will be able to process the family members’ requests to use their benefits.

Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA)

The Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) Program is a career development and employment assistance program sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD). MyCAA helps military spouses purse a license, certificate, certification, or Associate's Degree necessary for gainful employment in a high demand, high growth portable career field and occupation.

Training and Education Financial Assistance: MyCAA provides a maximum education benefit of $4,000 with an annual fiscal year cap of $2,000 to assist eligible military spouses in acquiring a professional credential needed to meet their Portable Career goal.

Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship amends the Post 9/11 GI Bill to include the children and surviving spouses of military personnel who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001. Eligible children and spouses attending school may receive tuition and fees plus a monthly living allowance and book stipend under this program. The program offers up to 36 months of education benefits. For more information or to apply, please visit the GI Bill Website and see the scholarship Fact Sheet.

Eligibility

Children and surviving spouses of military personnel who died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, are eligible for the benefit. A child may be married or over 23 and still be eligible.

Eligible Children:

Are entitle to 36 months of benefits at the 100% level

Have 15 years to use the benefit beginning on his/her 18th birthday

May use the benefit until his or her 33rd birthday

Cannot use benefit before age 18, even if he or she has completed high school

Are not eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program

Eligible Spouses:

Are entitle to 36 months of benefits at the 100% level

Have 15 years to use the benefit from the date of the Servicemember's death